Reliance Communications (RCOM) has joined the clutch of Indian telcos seeking to establish their presence in Africa. RCOM is in talks with Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C. (known as Zain) for a potential acquisition of its African operations, Reuters quotes its banking sources as saying. ET further states Zain is selling Celtel, the division that is present in 13 nations in the continent, valued at $10 billion. Zain acquired Celtel in 2005 for $3.36 billion. Indian Telcos & Africa Indian operators appear to be keen on the African region: Bharti Airtel restarted discussions with South African telco MTN this year and the haggling continues; the exclusive discussion period has been extended till August 31st. Last year, both Bharti Airtel and RCOM huddled with MTN to discuss mergers but nothing materialised. RCOM is now pitching for Zain after French conglomerate Vivendi withdrew from talks. BSNL too announced it was looking to acquire minority stake in African telcos, with the hope of increasing its revenues. Mumbai-based Essar Global's telecom subsidiary was the first to enter the African telecom sector. Last year, it set up a joint venture with Zimbabwe-based Econet Wireless International for Kenya and another this year with a local firm Kenyan Telecom Uganda Ltd for Uganda. Its $200 million network in Uganda was to have launched this month. Zain In Africa Zain is present in 16 African countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. It is also in Morocco through…
